Watching the Weather Change by Marco van Duyvendijk

My review of Marco van Duyvendijk's Watching the Weather Change (Self-Published, 2011) is now available at photo-eye. 

Quiet and meditative, Watch the Weather Change is a loosely structured collection of personal images that meander through Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Netherlands. An impressionistic journal, van Duyvendijk's book weaves together such seemingly disparate images as a puppet-maker in his workshop, Hong Kong cityscapes and portraits of an attractive Asian model to make this modest, but elegant book. Part poetry, personal journal and documentary, van Duyevendijk's book is an alluring mix of photographic fragments, tranquil moments and half travelled roads.

Read the rest here.

Redwood Saw by Richard Rothman

My review of Richard Rothman's Redwood Saw (Nazraeli Press, 2011) is now available at Photo-eye. The book was also on my list for one of the best of 2011.

As sentient animals, we arrogantly pride ourselves on our dominion over the land and its creatures. Entering the 21st century, the demands we have placed on the earth are reaching their limits. In the long view, after we are gone, the forest and animals will reclaim the Earth, and humans will likely become a footnote in Earth's long history. Richard Rothman's first monograph, Redwood Saw, tackles the thorny problem of our relationship to the planet. Rather than show often clichéd images of environmental destruction, as powerful and real as they are, Rothman focuses on a dying timber town, Crescent City, CA. Beginning in the forest and weaving his way through the town, Rothman leads us through the landscape and the inhabitant's lives, and offers an affecting portrait of America struggling in the face of depletion and worn-down dreams.

Read the rest here.

RVB Books

RVB Books is a new publisher based in Paris, who've been putting out some great photobooks. I've included three of their books below, but there are more on their site. All the books are especially well designed and each has a different look and feel from the encyclopedic design of The Significant Savages by Grégoire Pujade-Lauraine to the playful oversized board book Cathedral Cars by Thomas Mailaender.

I've also include The Hibernators by Ruth van Beek, whose work I first became aware of at Erik Kessel's fantastic, albeit polarizing, show, Use Me, Abuse Me, at the 2010 NY Photography Festival.* van Beek's work is a great example of the humorous and smart contemporary work being done in collage. I already have a soft spot for guinea pigs, but her collages of headless cats, dogs and guinea pigs are funny and poignant. I also can't help but think of a certain famous Star Trek episode.

I'm hoping to do a review for at least one of the books, which I will post in the near future.  

* Note: Thomas Mailaender's work was also included in the same show. I would include a link, but the folks at the NYPH Festival have inexplicably removed all trace of prior festivals from their site. The exhibition catalog for that show, which is really a sticker book, is awesome too.

The Significant Savages by Grégoire Pujade-Lauraine (RVB Books, 2011)

 

The Significant Savages by Grégoire Pujade-Lauraine (RVB Books, 2011)

 The Hibernators by Ruth Van Beek (RVB Books, 2011)

The Hibernators by Ruth Van Beek (RVB Books, 2011) 

 Cathedral Cars by Thomas Mailaender (RVB Books, 2011)

  Cathedral Cars by Thomas Mailaender (RVB Books, 2011)

Best Books of 2011

This past year, I've been reviewing photobooks regularly for Photoeye and The Brooklyn Rail, as well as occasional reviews for Ahorn Magazine. Given all this new activity, I thought it appropriate to finally post a 'best of' list this year. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with best of lists. I love reading them and secretly wait for them each year, but they also remind me of the all the books I haven't seen or missed, and generally can't afford, but now desperately want. That said, I was flattered when Photoeye asked me to contribute to their 'Best of 2011' section. My 'best of' lists have always existed solely in my head, so I thought I would finally share.

The following are in no particular order, but contain books I've reviewed and consequently spent more time with, as well as books I've returned to and grown to love over the past year. I've also added a honorable mentions/late additions section below.

Redheaded Peckerwood by Christian Patterson (MACK, 2011)
Blood streaked and gritty, Patterson’s book deconstructs a decades old crime and creates a beautiful and smart puzzle about crime, desire, hopelessness and the American landscape. If I had to pick a favorite, this would be near the top.

The Auckland Project by John Gossage and Alec Soth (Radius Books, 2011)

Two books in one by two great photographers and bookmakers. What more could you ask for?


Abendsonne by Misha De Ridder (Schaden, 2011)
Containing a mere eight images, De Ridder’s sumptuous book perfectly encapsulates the ephemeral beauty of nature.


A by Greg Halpern (J&L Books, 2011)
Filled with beauty and a keen eye for poetic details, A is a sobering journey through the back roads of America's forgotten cities.

Towards a Warm Math by Lucas Blalock (Hassla, 2011)
A book of strange photographs that pulls back the digital curtain and teases apart the possibilities of the image in the 21st century.

A New Map of Italy by Guido Guidi (Loosestrife Editions, 2011)
A long overdue US book by a contemporary Italian master. Look harder.

Photographs by Penelope Umbrico (Aperture, 2011)
An artist’s monograph brilliantly reimagined as an artist book.

Oculus by Ken Schles (Nooderlicht, 2011)
A poignant meditation on images and memory, Schles’ book is as evocative as it is beautiful.

One to Nothing by Irina Rozovsky (Kehrer, 2011)
Rozovsky's Israel is a land of modern ruins and ancient mysteries that never offers solutions, only questions and riddles.

Redwood Saw by Richard Rothman (Nazraeli, 2011)
Rothman’s first monograph documents a dying timber town and offers an affecting portrait of America struggling in the face of depletion and worn-down dreams.

Honorable Mentions/Late Additions:

Summertime by Mark Steinmetz (Nazraeli, 2011/12)
This may officially be a 2012 book. Regardless, it is the perfect coda to Steinmetz's amazing trilogy South Central, South East and Greater Atlanta (all Nazraeli). Summer break in all its lazy, boring glory.

Paloma al aire by Ricardo Cases (Photovision, 2011)
Smart but quirky design coupled with great pictures. Painted pigeon racing in all its multicolored glory.

Le Luxe by Roe Etheridge (Mack, 2011)
I can't tell if I love or hate this book. After all, who would have thought of making a book about Goldman Sacks, let alone one so weird and timely? As Beckett wrote, "Fail better."

Idyll by Raymond Meeks and Mark Steinmetz (Orchard/Silas Finch, 2011)
This is another one that may be a 2012 book, but I got a chance to look at it at the New York Editions|Artist's Book Fair this Fall. The third in a series of collaborative books between Meeks and another artist/photographer, Idyll is beautifully made and full of exquisite images.

Tooth for an Eye by Deborah Luster (Twin Palms, 2011)
A strange and haunting archive of crime scenes in NOLA.

Dirk Braeckman by Dirk Braeckman (Roma, 2011)
Although discovered late this year, this dark and brooding book is not to be missed. Tom Sandberg meets Michael Schmidt in a dingy Belgian apartment complex.

Illuminance by Rinko Kawauchi (Aperture, 2011)
More deceptively simple and poetic images by the master of the genre.

Visitor by Ofer Wolberger (Horses Think, 2011)
It is hard to pick one book from Wolberger's ambitious book project, but this one is an especially nice example from 2011.

The Significant Savages by Gregoire Pujade Lauraine (RVB Books, 2011)
Stripped of comments and status updates, Pujade Lauriane's collection of social network profile pictures offers a funny and astute portrait of our virtual selves.

Like any list, this is incomplete and entirely subjective. It is now not possible to see everything being produced - which makes it an overwhelming, but exciting time for photobooks. There are a lot of books I should probably add, but have not seen in person yet - Gomorrah Girl by Valerio Spada is one example. There are also many I have yet to discover. So little time...

See Photoeye's entire 'Best of 2011' list here.

Oculus by Ken Schles

My review of Ken Schles' new book Oculus (Nooderlicht, 2011) is now online at Photoeye. The book is quite unusual and beautiful.

Blurring the boundaries between a philosophical essay and photobook, Ken Schles’ new
book Oculus is a beautiful meditation on the role of images, memory and perception
in our lives. In many ways, Schles’ work builds upon the questions and concerns of
his last two books. If The Geometry of Innocence (Hatje Cantz, 2001) can be seen as a
deconstruction of photojournalism and documentary practice, and The New History
of Photography (White Press, 2008) a meditation on influence and our relationship to
history and images, Oculus pushes these questions to a deeper level and explores how we
use images to understand and construct meaning from the world around us.

Read the rest here.

The Photobook Review

Image Courtesy Aperture's blog Exposure

Aperture recently launched The Photobook Review at Paris Photo. The first issue was guest edited by Jeffrey Ladd and looks fantastic. You can get the digital version here. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

P.S. Aperture has copies in their gallery space. Get one while you can - they are going fast.

Redheaded Peckerwood by Christian Patterson

Christian Patterson's long-awaited book, Redheaded Peckerwood (Mack, 2011), is just out in the US and well worth the wait. My review of the book is now available in the Dec/Jan issue of The Brooklyn Rail. I'm a bit averse to 'best of' lists, but I have to admit this is at the top of my list for 2011.

In the late 1950s, Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate carved a bloody trail of mayhem across the plains of Nebraska and Wyoming. At the end of their three-day killing spree, more than 10 people lay dead, including Fugate’s family. Later immortalized in Terrance Malick’s film Badlands, their crime seems unimaginably horrific and unexplainable—the act of two angry, violent, and bored teenagers that defied reason. These terrible events serve as the launching pad for Christian Patterson’s fantastic new book, Redheaded Peckerwood (MACK, 2011). Moving across various photographic genres, Patterson’s work offers an oblique and mysterious exploration of desire, anger, hopelessness, and despair.

To read the rest, pick up a copy of the Rail if you are in Brooklyn or read it online here.

You can also get a copy here or here.

Please Note: Caril Ann Fugate's name is incorrectly spelled Fulgate in paragraph 3. The correction was made online, but remains in print.